


Winter of '33

by Thatoneloser_kid



Series: Ellie x Dina prompts [3]
Category: The Last of Us
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 17:08:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15441828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatoneloser_kid/pseuds/Thatoneloser_kid
Summary: Tumblr prompt: Maybe Ellie having a really hard time in winter (because of the David thing) and Dina trying to figure out what it is about winter that scared Ellie so much, eventually she finds out wether Ellie tells her or Joel does, either way we gotta have Dina comforting a sad Ellie





	Winter of '33

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! if you have any prompts send them to me at Thatoneloser-kid.tumblr.com : )

Dina had noticed it since the beginning, the change in Ellie in winter.

Everyone else put it down to winter blues, or cabin fever, but Dina had never been convinced.

From the very first flutter of snow in December Ellie would withdraw, become distant and sad, and Dina hoped that the winter of ‘38 would be different, with their tentative but budding relationship.

* * *

When Dina woke up one early December morning to see the ground white and a flurry of snow falling from the white sky, she was filled with anxiety.

She and Ellie were supposed to meet for breakfast, but Dina wasn’t surprised when she didn’t show.

Dina finished her food and wrapped up some for Ellie and Joel before heading to her place.

Joel was sitting at the table when she entered, drinking from a mug of coffee.

“She’s in bed,” he said, accepting the food with a thankful smile.

“Has she gotten up at all?”

“She was ready to go, but when she looked outside she decided to go back to bed.” There was more behind what Joel was saying, Dina knew that. “Can’t say I blame her, it’s bitter out there.”

“Should I leave her?” Dina asked unsurely.

“Nah, she’ll be glad you’re here, kid.” Joel waved his hand in the direction of the stairs. “Go on,”

Dina nodded, putting Ellie’s food on the table and heading upstairs.

She knocked on Ellie’s door before opening it and peaking in. “El?”

Ellie peered over her shoulder at her, a little smile appearing on her lips. “Sorry,”

“That’s okay,” Dina said. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah,”

Dina slipped inside and closed the door, kicking off her shoes and shucking off her jacket, sliding into the bed behind Ellie.

“Are you okay, Freckles?” Dina whispered.

“Yeah,” Ellie replied, sounding almost robotic.

“Truth,” Dina requested.

Ellie was silent for a few seconds before reaching back for Dina’s arm and pulling her in, wrapping Dina’s arm around her own body, hugging it tight against her chest.

Dina slid her arm under Ellie’s neck and wrapped her up in a comforting hug, kissing the back of her neck.

“No, I’m not.” Ellie said quietly.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not right now,” Ellie said. “Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Dina reassured, giving Ellie’s hip a little squeeze. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Ellie nodded against her arm, shuffling back into Dina’s heat.

They napped for a few hours before getting up, Dina to go to work at the clinic and for Ellie to eat.

“Hey,” Dina whispered when Ellie walked her to the door, prompting Ellie to look at her. Dina took ahold of Ellie’s hand, squeezing it. “I’m here for you, whenever you’re ready, be it next week or next year.”

“Thank you,” Ellie looked genuinely grateful that Dina wasn’t pushing.

“Have a good day, Freckles.” Dina smiled, moving closer, her nose rubbing against Ellie’s as she leaned in to kiss her.

“Bye,” Ellie breathed in that voice that made Dina’s chest heat up.

Ellie didn’t leave the house much for the first two weeks of December, which was weird, Ellie was constantly outside any other time of the year.

But Dina didn’t push, she knew Ellie would come to her when she was ready.

That time was on Christmas Eve.

Dina was at home, her little brother already tucked up in bed, when Ellie let herself in.

Dina glanced over her shoulder when she heard the footsteps, smiling at the sight of Ellie, bathed in multicoloured fairy lights. “Hey, babe.”

Ellie stood in the door way for a few seconds, her lips hooked up into a ghost of a smile.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I- you’re kinda beautiful.” Ellie sounded almost dazed as she spoke.

“Come here,” Dina wiggles her fingers at Ellie; and when Ellie reached her she pulled her down onto the sofa before climbing gracefully onto her lap. “I missed you today.”

“Sorry,” Ellie rubbed her hands on Dina’s thighs. “I know I’ve been distant lately.”

“It’s okay,”

“It’s not,” Ellie disagreed. “But I want to tell you why.”

“Only if you’re ready, El.”

“I am,” Ellie nodded once. Determined. “But it isn’t easy, it’s kind of horrible. I don’t want you to look at me differently.”

“I won’t,”

“You can’t say that for sure, not until you’ve heard what I have to say.”

Dina knew that wasn’t true, she had fallen in love with this woman, there was few things she could say that would change that. But she nodded anyway.

“When I was fourteen Joel got hurt really badly, rebar straight through here,” Ellie tapped on Dina’s body where the rebar has pierced. “I got him to safety, first in a shopping centre, then at a house, but one day I went out hunting and ran into these two men, I offered to trade them the deer I had if they would give me medicine. It was fine, at first, then the main guy, David, told me about the guy and the kid who killed a metric fuckton if his men.”

“You guys?” Dina had this odd, almost proud smile in her face.

“Us,” Ellie nodded. “He took me back to his compound and locked me up, when I woke up David was chopping up people like they were animals, apparently they were cannibals. He offered me a place at their compound, touched my hand like the sleazy older man he was, and he killed my horse, so I broke his finger.”

Dina laughed softly at that, running her finger down Ellie’s cheek, then her neck, pressing her palm against her chest, noting Ellie’s thundering heart. “That’s my girl.”

“Then they tried to eat me, but I escaped. I- outside was worse than anything I had ever seen before, I couldn’t see a few feet in front of me the blizzard was so bad, and the place was swimming with men so I had to make my way through the cold and pick them off one by one. David found me eventually, and after we fought he wrapped his hands around my throat and- I mean- I don’t really know what he was planning on doing but before he could do anything I hit him with his own machete.” Dina watched Ellie’s eyes unfocused, seemingly disconnecting from her words. “Over and over, even after I knew he was long gone.”

Dina brought her hand to Ellie’s cheek again, tentatively touching the soft skin there, bringing Ellie’s attention back to her.

“That was the most like a savage I’ve ever been.” Ellie admitted. “In the winter it just brings back that fear, you know? Of losing Joel, the urgency of needing to get back to him but being stuck in that place, in the storm.”

“Not the fear of dying?”

“I didn’t care about dying,” Ellie shrugged. “But I had to save Joel, he was all I had left, but he found me anyway, he always does, pulling me off of a long dead David.”

“You went through all of that at fourteen?” Dina frowned.

“That was one of the really bad stories.” Ellie sighed. “Winter just takes me back, you know? I just have a hard time dealing with it, not that I can’t deal with it, I can, I just-“

Dina cut Ellie off with a kiss, resting their foreheads together. “It’s okay to struggle, Ellie.”

“Is it?” Ellie swallowed. “Because if you struggle you die.”

“No,” Dina shook her head. “You _give up_ you die, struggling is what happens in situations like this. Don’t dehumanise you’re, he was an animal, he deserved to die but you killed someone, Ellie, and that isn’t easy.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before now, I was worried what you’d think, and it just feels stupid, still feeling sad and afraid over something that happened five years ago.”

“You are never under any obligation to tell me anything, Ellie, but just know that no matter what it is, I’m here, okay? Nothing is taking me away from you, I don’t care what you’ve done.”

Ellie started up at Dina, unsure of what to say to that, so she didn’t say anything, her hands holding securely onto Dina’s back as she sat up, pressing a soft kiss to her lips before resting her forehead against Dina’s sternum.

Dina’s wrapped her arms around Ellie, one hand finding its way into her hair as she whispered against the top of her head. “I love you, Ellie Williams.” She admitted, panic rising in her chest for a second before she felt Ellie nod against her sternum.

“I love you, Dina.” Ellie replied, tilting her head back to peer up at Dina. “I told Joel I was crashing here tonight, I hope that’s okay?”

“More than okay,” Dina assured, her hands sliding round to cup Ellie’s cheeks and she pressed a lingering kiss to her lips.


End file.
